More and more Internet connections are being filtered, from public
Wi-Fi and workplace connection filtering to ISP and country-level
censorship. However, there are still ways to get around this filtering
and view blocked websites.
Some of these methods may be restricted by harsh filtering. For
example, the Great Firewall of China is now interfering with outgoing
VPN connections, although VPNs were left alone for years.
DNS Server
This method is the least likely to work, but it’s worth covering
here. Some Internet service providers have implemented filtering by
changing their DNS servers to redirect requests for the blocked websites
to another website. Some places that filter their Internet connections
may use something like the web filtering solution offered by OpenDNS.
Assuming the filtering is just at the DNS level and requests to other
DNS servers aren’t being blocked, you can get around the filtering by
setting a custom DNS server on your device. This overrides and bypasses
the default DNS server controlled by your Internet service provider or
the organization running the network. Use something like Google Public
DNS and you’ll know no DNS-level filtering is taking place.
Tor
Tor allows you to browse anonymously.
It does this by routing your web browsing over and encrypted network
before it emerges at an endpoint, which will likely be in an uncensored,
unfiltered location. You shouldn’t use Tor to access sensitive,
unencrypted data, but Tor will let you access blocked websites on any
connection.
Tor’s developers are fighting a long, unending battle with regimes
that attempt to block it, such as Iran. Tor may work even if standard
VPNs, proxies, and SSH tunnels won’t.
Note that Tor does have a big downside — it’s much, much slower than
typical web browsing. It will allow you to access blocked websites, but
it shouldn’t be used for all your day-to-day browsing unless you’re a
dissident living in Iran or China.
VPN
Connect to a virtual private network
and all traffic coming from your computer will be redirected over that
VPN. In other words, if you’re connected to a VPN located in Iceland,
all your network traffic will be redirected to Iceland before it
emerges. Replies will be send to the server in Iceland, which will
forward them back to you. This all happens over an encrypted connection.
All your ISP, network operator, or even your country’s government can
see is that you’re making an encrypted VPN connection and sending data
over the connection. If they want to block you, they’d have to block VPN
connections.
VPNs are also commonly used for remotely connecting to work networks,
so VPNs are generally not blocked. However, China has recently started
interfering with VPNs.
Free VPNs are available, but a solid, fast VPN will cost you money —
either to rent from a VPN provider or to pay for hosting so you can set
up your own VPN.
Proxy
Blocked sites can also be accessed using a standard proxy.
System-wide (or browser-wide) proxies generally function similarly to
VPNs, but they’re not as reliable — for example, they only work with
certain programs, not every program on your computer. If you want to pay
for a service and send all your traffic over it, you’re better off with
a VPN.
However, if you want to quickly access a blocked website, you can try
using a web-based proxy. There are many available, including the widely
known Hide My Ass. Plug a website’s address into the box on the website and you can access it via the proxy.
This won’t always work, as the proxy itself may be blocked. It’s also
not the best experience, as the proxy itself will add advertisements to
the page — they have to pay for their free service somehow. However, if
you want to quickly access a single blocked site without installing
anything or changing any system settings, this may work for you.
SSH Tunnel
SSH tunnels can work similarly to VPNs
for securely tunneling your traffic. If you’re looking to pay for such a
service, you’ll probably want to get a VPN. However, if you’re a geek,
you may already have an SSH server you can access remotely.
If you do have an SSH server you can access, you can connect to it
remotely and set up tunneling, redirecting all your web browsing traffic
over the secure connection. This is helpful to encrypt your browsing
traffic so it can’t be snooped on on public WI-Fi networks, and it will
also bypass any filtering on the local network. You’ll have the same web
browsing experience you would have if you were sitting at the SSH
server’s location, although it will be a little slower.
You can create an SSH tunnel with PuTTY on Windows or with the SSH command on other platforms.
Blocked websites are only becoming more common, with governments like
the UK’s pushing ISPs to start filtering the Internet connections they
provide to subscribers by default and laws like SOPA in the US
demonstrating the kind of harsh blocking governments want to put into
place.
If you ever stumble across a blocked website, these tips should help you understand how to get around the block.
Credit: Chris Hoffman
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